Alvear v. Sandy Springs Toyota Inc.

Genuine issues of material fact remained as to the plaintiff's claims for fraud and a violation of Georgia's odometer statute, O.C.G.A. § 40-8-5, arising after she purchase a car from a dealership that had an inaccurate odometer reading.

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Appellant Nadia Alvear brings the first of these companion appeals from a grant of summary judgment to Sandy Springs Toyota, Inc. “SST”, in Alvear’s suit for fraud and other claims concerning her June 2012 purchase of a 2007 Honda Civic from the dealership that had, at the time of sale, an odometer reading of 3,650 miles. Prior to the sale to Alvear, an SST technician thought that the car had been driven many more miles than the odometer showed and told his superiors so. Alvear later learned that by June 2011, more than a year before she bought the Honda, a vehicle history report showed the car as having been driven approximately 120,000 miles, or more than thirty times its odometer reading at the time SST obtained the car. In Case No. A15A0511, Alvear argues that the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to SST because genuine questions of material fact remain as to her claims for fraud and violation of the Fair Business Practices Act “FBPA” OCGA § 10-1-390 et seq.. In Case No. A15A0512, SST argues that the trial court erred when it denied SST summary judgment on Alvear’s claim under Georgia’s odometer statute OCGA § 40-8-5. We conclude that issues of fact remain as to Alvear’s fraud and odometer statute claims but that she did not comply with the ante litem requirement of the FBPA. We therefore reverse in part in Case No. A15A0511 and affirm in Case No. A15A0512.

On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, we view the facts in a light most favorable to the non-movant in order to determine whether the trial court erred in concluding that no genuine issue of material fact remains and that the movant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rubin v. Cello Corp., 235 Ga. App. 250, 251 510 SE2d 541 1998.

Alvear v. Sandy Springs Toyota Inc.

Genuine issues of material fact remained as to the plaintiff's claims for fraud and a violation of Georgia's odometer statute, O.C.G.A. § 40-8-5, arising after she purchase a car from a dealership that had an inaccurate odometer reading.

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